Howard Dean : Ted Kennedy

[ProSense]

Ted Kennedy

By Howard Dean

We will miss Senator Ted Kennedy as a nation, and I will miss him as a human being. Over the next few months, as we debate his life's passion, which was Universal Health Care, we will feel his presence everywhere. He will be in the Senate Chamber, in the committee rooms, in the White House, and in the minds of most of the reporters old enough to have witnessed the trajectory of this extraordinary generation of America's First Family from it's beginning. Much has been written about Ted Kennedy already. He was indeed extraordinary. My mother, who was a solid Upper East Side Republican until 2004, once happened to sit next to him at a wedding of a mutual friend. She had never met him before. I'm sure the exchange was lively, and being a Dean, I doubt my mother gave him much quarter. A week later, a beautiful, kind, and very personal handwritten letter arrived from Ted Kennedy. My mother, like so many other Americans, was hooked by the Kennedy charm and grace.

Ted Kennedy was a man with a long career of determination as well as charm. When President Obama signs a Health Care Reform bill late this year, Ted Kennedy may not be standing there next to him, but his presence will be deeply apparent in the Oval Office as the President's pen moves across the page.

[blm]

1. Well said, Chairman Dean.

and, yes...you're STILL my chairman....

[Cha]

2. Thanks for that tribute from

Gov Dean, PS. I really love it that he's working Health Care in there because that's the way it's going to be.

[pennylane100]

3. Oh Dear Dr. Dean,

I wish you were part of our administration, We need you to help us now that one of our leaders has been taken..

[DFW]

4. I have to wonder

Will Teddy's passing be the catalyst that finally moves Obama to bring Howard into his administration?

I doubt it, especially as long as Rahm is around, but I can keep hoping.

[avaistheone1]

5. Dr Dean is so gracious to honor Senator Kennedy.

k&r

:kick:

[mzmolly]

6. Great statement.

eom